Why 10,000 Steps a Day Might Be the Wrong Target for Women Who Run

10,000 steps is everywhere. Every fitness tracker, every health app, every wellness article. And if you're a woman in structured training — running, lifting, doing both — it might actually be working against you.In this episode Poppy breaks down where 10,000 steps actually came from (a Japanese pedometer marketing campaign from 1965 with zero scientific basis), why it's a useful target for some people in some seasons of life and completely counterproductive for others, and the two specific mistakes she sees training women make with step targets that are quietly stalling their progress.Including why running steps count toward your daily total and are not a separate category, why forcing extra steps on hard session days and long run days competes directly with recovery, why using steps as a calorie-burning tool is diet culture logic dressed up as performance advice, and what step count is actually useful for measuring in a training context.This isn't about shaming the 10,000 step goal. Context is everything. It's about understanding which season of training you're in and adjusting the target to serve your body — not a number invented for a completely different population.📩 Comment FUEL on Poppy's latest Instagram post for the full running nutrition guide. DM @poppy.nfc with questions.